Miles Davis Podcast

Give An Inch and They'll Take Miles...

Miles Davis, artwork by Michael Symonds

Miles Davis was best known as a jazz musician, composer, and bandleader. According to William Ruhlman's article on Allmusic.com, Throughout Miles Davis' professional career, that lasted was at least 50 years, Davis played the trumpet in a lyrical, introspective, and melodic style, often employing a stemless Harmon mute to make his sound more personal and intimate. But if his approach to his instrument was constant, his approach to jazz was dazzlingly protean. To examine his career is to examine the history of jazz from the mid-'40s to the early '90s, since he was in the thick of almost every important innovation and stylistic development in the music during that period, and he often led the way in those changes, both with his own performances and recordings and by choosing sidemen and collaborators who forged new directions. It can even be argued that jazz stopped evolving when Davis wasn't there to push it forward. According to Notablebiographies.com, Davis's stint from 1947 to 1948 in a quintet (group of five musicians) led by bebop genius Charlie Parker brought him early fame. A fine bebop trumpeter, Davis soon felt a need to rid his music of bebop's style and to restore jazz's more melodic elements. The result was the influential recording Birth of the Cool (1949), which gave "birth" to the so-called "cool," or West Coast, jazz school. This recording established Davis' musical identity, separate from Parker and the other beboppers. 

According to Milesdavis.com, for nearly six decades, Miles Davis has embodied all that is cool – in his music (and most especially jazz), in his art, fashion, romance, and in his international, if not intergalactic, presence that looms strong as ever today.  2006 – The year in which Davis was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame on March 13th – is a land­mark year, commemorating the 80th anniversary of his birth on May 26, 1926, and the 15th anniversary of his death on September 28, 1991.  In between those two markers is more than a half-century of brilliance – often exasperating, brutally honest with himself and to others, uncompromising in a way that transcended mere intuition. According to Ruhlmann, Davis album, Bitches Brew, Davis turned more overtly to a jazz-rock style. Though certainly not conventional rock music, Davis' electrified sound attracted a young, non-jazz audience while putting off traditional jazz fans. Bitches Brew, released in March 1970, reached the pop Top 40 and became Davis' first album to be certified gold. It also earned a Grammy nomination for Best Instrumental Arrangement and won the Grammy for large-group jazz performance. Davis has made a power impression on me as a listener and as an industry professional. His music makes me eager to be a original and to take my creativity to the next level.

References:


Rulhmann, William. "Miles Davis." AllMusic. Web. 27 Feb. 2012. <http://www.allmusic.com/artist/miles-davis-p6377/biography>.

"Miles Davis." Web. 27 Feb. 2012. <http://www.milesdavis.com/us/biography>.

"World Biography." Miles Davis Biography. Web. 27 Feb. 2012. <http://www.notablebiographies.com/Co-Da/Davis-Miles.html>.

Brian Eno

Brian Eno

Brian Eno is an English musician, born in Woodbridge, Suffolk, England, in May of 1948. According to Mark Edwards article in Motion Magazine, Brian Eno was a founder member of Roxy Music, manipulating sounds on their debut album and the legendary For Your Pleasure. Leaving Roxy Music in 1973, he began his solo career with the album Here Come The Warm Jets. According to Ektal123's video Kraftwerk and the Electronic Revolution, Brian Eno had been drawn to the distinctive sounds emerging from Germany. That interest would bring him and David Bowie, pop icon, to working together in late 1976 on a series of albums that would bring this experimentalist to the main screen. Eno had already been making his mark in experimental music and the move to Germany seem like a natural progression. He incorporated tape delaying in his music. 
According to the biography.com article, Brian Eno began experimenting with electronic music in the late 1960s. As a producer and musician, he helped define/revamp the sound of some blockbuster musical acts of the 1980s and 1990s, including U2, and the Talking Heads. Eno created the genre of ambient music, using it to define his sound as a solo artist and later to producer records for such bands as Coldplay. 


According to Jason Ankeny article Brian Eno, A 1975 car accident which left Eno bedridden for several months resulted in perhaps his most significant innovation, the creation of ambient music: unable to move to turn up his stereo to hear above the din of a rainstorm, he realized that music could assume the same properties as light or color, and blend thoroughly into its given atmosphere without upsetting the environmental balance. Heralded by the release of 1975's minimalist Another Green World, Eno plunged completely into ambient with his next instrumental effort, Discreet Music, the first chapter in a ten-volume series of experimental works issued on his own Obscure label.

Brian Eno has had a great impression on me as a listener and as an industry professional. I love to use ambient sounds in my productions and many of my favorite songs and albums have been influenced by Brian Eno’s experimental creation.

References:


Etal123, (2009) Kraftwerk and the Electronic Revolution. Retrieved from http://www.veoh.com/watch/v17166226D39Jw7dc


Ankeny, Jason (1997). Brian Eno. AllMusic. Retrieved from http://www.allmusic.com/artist/brian-eno-p74178/biography




Edwards (1996, July 7). Brian Eno Biography. Motion Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.inmotionmagazine.com/eno2.html


http://www.biography.com/people/brian-eno-38203?page=1

Revolutionary Kraftwerk

Kraftwerk is an music band, from Dusseldorf, Germany, who's music has been the influential substance of electronic music. According to Ektal123's video Kraftwerk and the Electronic Revolution, Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider form the group in 1970 and after two albums they decided to introduce new musicians to the mix. They drafted in percussionist, Wolfgang Flur and multi-instrumentalist Klaus Roeder to add new elements to the Kraftwerk sound. Kraftwerk’s sound and image was relied more heavily on synthesizers and drum machines. 

Between the years of 1974-1981, Kraftwerks released five albums. The Autobahn, Radio Activity, Trans-Euro Express, The Man-Machine, and Computer World. The Autobahn was the results of Kraftwerks labors in Kling Klang studio, according to Kraftwerk and the Electronic Revolution. In was released in Germany and the UK in 1974 and would be the last album of Kraftwerk produced by Conny Plank. The Autobahn was the first concept album of Kraftwerk and the album that would catapult them on to the international stage. Radio Activity was the second album with a subject matter, dealing with radioactivity and activity on the radio. During this time Hutter and Schneider had tooking over production duties. According to Kraftwerk and the Electronic Revolution, Roedor had left the group and was replace by Karl Bartos. According to Jason Ankeny’s article Kraftwerk, Train travel emerged as the subject of 1977's Trans-Europe Express, which marked an increased movement towards seeming musical mechanization; the line became even further blurred with the follow-up, 1978's aptly titled The Man Machine, a work almost completely bereft of human touches. By this time, the members of Kraftwerk even publicly portrayed themselves as automatons, an image solidified by tracks like "We Are the Robots." According Kraftwerk and the Electronic Revolution, Computer World was released in 1981 and was returned to the band’s coherent conceptual approach. The album made the UK’s top 20 and remained on the chart for 22 weeks.

Characteristics of Kraftwerk’s music that earns them the postion of the biggest influence on electronic music are using album concepts dealing with relative aspects like road travel and train travel. Also influencing songs such as Gary Numan’s Cars and groups such as Throbbing Gristle.

Kraftwerk has made a major impact on me as a listener and industry professional. I am a synthesizers fan and kind of enjoy it a little bit more than live instruments. 

References:


Etal123, (2009) Kraftwerk and the Electronic Revolution. Retrieved from http://www.veoh.com/watch/v17166226D39Jw7dc


Ankeny, Jason (1997). Kraftwerk. AllMusic. Retrieved from http://www.allmusic.com/artist/kraftwerk-p4706/biography

What's Going On Marvin Gaye Podcast

Discussing the Musicians that created What's Going On.

What's Going On?

Marvin Gaye

According to Ben Edmonds article, What Went On, prior to the recording of What's Going On, Marvin Gaye was a real spiritual guy, yet also a rebel. According to, biography.com, Marvin was born in Washington D.C., sung in his father's church and was a member of the Moonglows before signing to Motown. According to, What Went On, Marvin had a strong appreciation for jazz and wasn't too fond of singing Hitch Hike. According to, biography.com, he played the piano and drums, also blessed with an exceptionally wide range that encompassed three distinct vocal styles—a piercing falsetto, a smooth mid-range tenor, and a deep gospel growl, Gaye combined great technical prowess with rare musical individuality. 

According to What Went On, Marvin, prodded by the song Obie Benson had dropped in his lap, Marvin began to broaden his vision of what his own next project would be. His younger brother Frankie had survived a three-year tour of duty in Vietnam, seeing that hardship of Frankie's return from sacrifice for his country was rewarded with disdain, disrespect and unemployment. When he could find work, it was as a dishwasher or a doorman, influenced the lyrical content of What’s Going On. According to, The Independent article, 

David Van DePitte: Arranger of Marvin Gaye's epochal album 'What's Going On', Gaye used What's Going On, as the starting point for what became a song cycle about the state of America and the world at the start of the Seventies.

Marvin had to face his brother-in-law, Berry Gordy, thoughts of the song being the worst thing he's ever heard, deciding not to record anymore and playing professional football for the Detriot Lions, and even a fist fight with Gordy.  

The typical Motown song was a bright, uptempo number done as a 2/4 shuffle or a hard 4/4 beat. Lyrically it dealt almost exclusively with romance, What's Going On was a more international song.

Overall What's going On' has had a wonderful impression on me helping get through personal situations uplifting my spirit and helps me think more about others than just myself.

Refer

 References:

  

Edmonds, Ben (2001, December 7). What Went On. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2001/dec/08/extract

Edmonds, Ben (2001, December 7). What Went On. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2001/dec/08/extract1


Perrone, Pierre (2009, September 12). The Independent. 

David Van DePitte: Arranger of Marvin Gaye's epochal album 'What's Going On'. Retrieved from http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/david-van-depitte-arranger-of-marvin-gayes-epochal-album-whats-going-on-1786174.html

http://www.biography.com/people/marvin-gaye-9307988

The Velvet Underground & Nico

The music of The Velvet Underground & Nico was very influential and experimental. With a line up consisting of guitarist Lou Reed, Sterling Morrison, an untrained drummer Maureen Tucker, vocalist Nico, and violist and bass John Cale, according to David N. Howard’s book Sonic Alchemy: Visionary Music Producers and Their Maverick Recordings, they became the dark-clouded Eastern antithesis to the West Coast’s euphoric sunshine daydream. According to Musicdox's the Southbank Show internet video, together they created the first alliance between avant-garde and pop music. 

The primary songwriters of the five were Lou Reed and John Cale.

Lou Reed, also known as the King of New York, was a rock’n roller from Long Island, New York. Reed was working as an assembly-line songsmith cranking out throwaways novelty tunes by the dozens for Pickwick Records, according Sonic Alchemy. John Cale, according to Sonic Alchemy, was experimental idealist, highly gifted on piano and violin, his reputation as a child prodigy was solidified after performing an original composition on the BBC when he was only eleven years old. Cale’s talents came to the attention of Aaron Copland, an American composing giant, that arranged a Leonard Bernstein scholarship that allowed Cale to study modern composition in Massachusetts. Reed was the leader of the group and Cale’s musical contribution were crucial the groups albums. 

According to the Southbank Show, famous pop artist Andy Warhol, promoted, supported and produced for The Velvet underground. He also added Nico to the band, produced their album “The Velvet Underground & Nico”, which was released in early 1967, according to Sonic Alchemy.

Their album set them apart from other popular recordings of the mid 1960s was that they sung about sex, drugs, and rock and roll and experimenting with singing off beat. 

Overall the Velvet Underground & Nice has impressed me very greatly. It has giving me ideas and has open my eyes to a whole new way of being creative.

References:

Howard, David N. (June 1, 2004), Sonic Alchemy: Visionary Music Producers and Their Maverick Recordings. Hal Leonard Corporation.

Musicdox, (2011, June) The Southbank Show - The Velvet Underground. Retrieved from http://www.veoh.com/watch/v18444087ZF6xZy9c